What Do I Do?

I didn’t share with a lot of people that I was leaving the U.S. to travel full time. I hate having to explain myself. Or, more accurately, I hate feeling that I’m obligated to explain myself. 

Some friends asked if they could throw me a going away party? Definitely not. I wanted to just slide out nice and quiet like. There’s nothing to see here. I shared some choice moments with a few choice people. Just the way I like it. Keep your circle small. Advice for life. 

It’s a difficult concept for many people to wrap their heads around. Travel full time? Where will you live? What will you DO? That question seems to loom large. The doing. So today, what did I do?

I got out of bed at about 0900. I spent the next two-ish hours eating breakfast - three eggs scrambled, with sausage and bacon, beans and tortillas. I drank three cups of coffee (it’s free). I had a fascinating conversation with Steven who was already on his second beer of the morning. Steven is 30, an accomplished hitchhiker, student, aspiring author, traveler, and advocate for the homeless of which he is proudly one currently.

I walked 30 minutes through the city to Walmart. I purchased q-tips, eye drops, toothpaste, a bottle brush to clean my water bottle, and some cleanser for my white sneakers (I hate dirty sneaks). I walked to GNC and bought some electrolytes - you can Google the benefits. I looked fruitlessly for a good Magnesium Complex. Then I walked back to my hostel, snacking on three churros I bought from some dude on the street who couldn’t break a 100 peso note, so I ended up paying more than double the going rate. I really wanted those churros.

Here’s what I REALLY did today:

I got more than 9 hours of quality sleep and woke up when my body was ready without answering a fucking alarm clock. Instead of jumping out of bed and into a shower, I lay in bed and thought a while. When was the last time you felt you had the time to just lay there and think?

When I was damn good and ready, I fueled my body with a high-protein breakfast - I estimate it at about 30 - 40 grams of protein and just enough carbs to keep me from killing someone, after nearly a sixteen hour fast.

I exercised my mind and learned something new from an engaging character while enjoying three cups of coffee slowly and at my own pace.

The coffee cleaned out my system (if you know what I mean) and I was ready to work.

Work? What do you mean work? It sounds like a permanent vacation….

Well: I located a store in a city that was foreign to me. A store that hopefully would have everything that I needed. I decided how I was going to navigate to that store. Was I going to Uber or was I going to walk? Was it safe to walk?

Deciding that the risks could be mitigated, I chose to walk. I then navigated a foreign city on foot while exercising for approximately 30 minutes during the nearly 2 mile journey dodging pedestrians, food carts, taxicabs, buses, feral dogs, feral children, and potholes.

I found most of what I needed in a store where all the signs are in a language I barely read, staffed by folks whose language I barely speak. I used the self-checkout where I had to ask the nice lady for help, 

“Desculpeme senora. Lo siento, yo no comprende. Necessito ayuda por favor.”  

“Excuse me ma’am. I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I need help, please.”

Then I navigated a different route back to my hostel, because police OPSEC - Operational Security - dies hard (keep the kidnappers guessing). I actually just didn’t want to see the same shit going, that I had seen coming. Different potholes. And another 30 minutes of exercise.

I successfully negotiated for sustenance with a fighting age male foreign national (the irony that I am actually the fighting age foreign national isn’t lost on me).

I made it home alive, without being robbed, kidnapped, abducted, raped, or otherwise assaulted or molested. It was actually a very pleasant excursion.

The short answer of what I did today is that I solved problems. 

The entire adventure was about solving problems. That’s what travel is: solving problems. Recognizing a need and figuring out a way to get that need met. Whether it’s figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B, figuring out how to get yourself fed, figuring out where you’re going to live for the next period of time, or figuring out why the fucking self-checkout machine won’t accept your next item, travel is all about solving problems.

So that’s what I do.

Day in and day out. 

I solve problems. 

Only nowadays, I solve my own problems for free instead of getting paid (or being expected) to solve other people’s problems.

That’s what the fuck I do, over.